According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, the country plans to launch the base module of its own space station by the end of next June, starting to build the largest block of domestic assets in space.
The agency said in a statement on the morning of March 4 that the 20-ton base module and the Truong Chinh 5B heavy missile to launch it had been transported to the Van Xuong Space Launch Center in Hainan Province for assembly and test. Out of this, four groups of astronauts have been selected to build the space station and are being trained.
China is determined to build this space station to conduct international cooperation in science and technology, the statement said. Chinese scientists and their UN counterparts have selected the first set of science experiments proposed by foreign researchers that could be performed inside the space station. According to the agency, they are currently working on the implementation of such cooperation programs.
The agency also noted that it was reviewing plans for China’s manned lunar exploration program.
Truong Chinh 5B space station base modules and heavy boosters are transported to the Van Xuong Space Launch Center in Hainan Province.
This is considered to be China’s most complicated space effort, a multi-paradigm space station called the Heavenly Palace. It is primarily designed to be made up of three components – a central module attached to two space labs – with a total weight of over 90 tonnes.
The central module, named Thien Ha, is 16.6 meters long and 4.2 meters in diameter. It consists of three parts: the connection part, the life maintenance and control part and finally the resources part. It will be the hub of space station operations, as astronauts will live there and control the entire station from within. Modules will also be responsible for organizing scientific experiments.
According to the Chinese National Space Administration, 12 astronauts are being trained for missions, including veterans of previous flights from Shenzhou, as well as new arrivals. Among the astronauts there are women.
China has launched two small experimental space stations to test measurements of ability to meet, dock and help life. Once completed, the space station will allow astronauts to stay for up to 6 months, like the International Space Station ISS.
The entire space station is expected to enter service next year and will operate for about 15 years and possibly longer than the ISS, which is nearing the end of its life, according to program planners.
The ISS is supported by the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe, Canada and others, but without the participation of China. Part of the reason is America’s vigilance over sharing secret military-related program technology with China.
However, the Chinese space program has progressed steadily since it put an astronaut into orbit around Earth in 2003. Another Chinese exploration vessel has also arrived, a region far from the Moon less explored in 2019.
Another spacecraft, the Tianan-1, is in orbit around Mars and plans to land an explorer ship on the surface of the Red Planet in the coming months. If successful, China will become the second country after the United States to send a spacecraft to Mars.
China is also working on a reusable space plane and is planning a crew mission to the Moon and even building a permanent research base on this Earth satellite, although that is not yet proposed on the schedule.
